Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

my Saviour's example to cheer and support mo. At any rate,
I should have given up all that I hod in
"I went this moruingto the Forum, found my creditor's son,
examined his accounts, and found that you h:i
debt in full. I am, therefore, yoar bondsman, Lady Fubiola,
instead of the Jew's." And ho km It humbly ut her
"Rise, rise," said Fabiola, turning away her "You are no bondsman of mine, but a door brother
common Lord."
eyes.
in our
Then sitting down with him, she said : "Orontius, I have a
great favor to ask from you. Give me some account of h>.w
you were brought to that life, which you have BO generously
embraced."
"I will obey yon as briefly as possible. I fled, ns you know,
one sorrowful night from Borne, accompanied by a luuu" and
his voice choked him.
"I know, I know whom you mean Fabiola.
Eurotas," interrupted
"The same, the curse of our house, the author of all find my
mine,
dear sister's, sufferings. We had to charter a vessel
*t great expense from Brundusiom, whence we sailed for ( y-
We attempted commerce and various speculations, but
all failed. There was manifestly a curse on all that we un-
ik. Our mear.s melted away, and wo f ;*! to
>me other country. We crossed over to Pahviine, and
settled for a while at Gaza. Very
THE CHURCH OF THE CATACOMBS.
soon wo v.
distress; every body shunned us, we knew not why ; but niy
conscience told mo that the mark of Cain was on my brow."
Orontins paused and wept fora time, then went on :
"At length, when all was exhausted, and nothing re-nnined
but n few jewels, of considerable price indeed, but with which,
I knew not why, Eurotas would not part, he urged me to take
.i' denouncing i
; lor a furious
a was breaking ont. For the first time in my life I
rebelled against his commands, and refused to obey. One day
i-iiiJc out of the gates; we wandered far, till wo
came to a delightful spot in the midst of the desert. It was a
epai'
" That old man was Hilarion, a native of Gaza, who, having
spent many years with the holy Anthony in Egypt, had that
'year* returned to establish the cenobitie and eremitical life in
his own country, and had already collected several disciples.
A.B. m
They lived in (he onves hard by,
in.
"T'u fill piety,
I saw the religion (
I of
my de;
so that yielding to grace, I bewailed
",
''
i'U,l reei-ived bujil ism 'in I
97
and took th< ir refection
,uir dry food in the
'! doubly brethren,
Church ; for I was born to eternal life, also, on that day. But
ud to do now ?"
debt ;
i my
return. T
-.-is. of my journey. Th
my second was to lay an offer!
You will reiii.'.jibe:-," he added, smiling, "that your
father unintentionally deceived mo into the idea, that she cov-
'iaycd. Fool that I was ! Bu-
: have
ion, that she should pon-
, keeping ; so I brought it to 1
you means for your journey ?" asked the lady
timidly.
"
Abundant," he replied, "in the charity of the faithful. I
. hnve 1' lisbop of <
where sustenance tu'.l hulging but I will ; accept from
up of water and a morsel of bread, in the name of a
disciple."
They rose, and were advancing towards the house, v
woman rushed madly through the shrubs, :
^claiming, " Oh, save me ! dear mistress, sav
ling me, to kill me !"
Fabiola recognized, i.'i the poor oreatnre, her formr.r
Jubala, but her hair was grizzly and dishevelled, and her
whole aspect bespoke abject misery. She asked whom she
meant.
" My husband," she replied ;
. dell, covered with verdure, and shaded by palm-trees;
a little am ran down, issuing from a spring iu a rock
at the head of the valley. In this rook we saw grottoes and
caverns; but the place seemed uninhabited. Not a sound could
be heard but the bubbling of the water.
"
\\ e sat down to rest, when Eurotas addressed me in a fearful
speech. The time wa's come, he told me, wheu we must
both fulfil the dreadful resolution he had taken, that we mast
not survive the ruiu of our family. Here we must both die;
the wild beasts would consume our bodies, and no one would
know the end of its last representatives,
"So saying, he drew forth two small flasks of unequal sizes,
handed me the larger one, and swallowed the contents of the
mailer.
"I refused to talte it, and even reproached him for the difT rence
of our doses; but he replied that he was old, and I ;,
mud that they were proportioned to our respective stiv.
I still refused, having no wish to die. But a sort of demoniacal
fury seemed to come over him; he seized me with a giant's
grasp, as I sat on the ground, threw me on my back, and exclaiming,
'We must both perish together,' forcibly poured tha
contents of the phial, without sparing rue a "
long has ho bee'i
cruel, but to-day he i more brutal than utual. Oh, save me
* from
"
l>ere is no danger here," replied
drop, down niy
the "
lady but I ;
fear,
.Tubalu, you are far from happy. I have not seen you for a
long time."
"No, dear lady, why should I come to tell yon of all my
woes ? Oh, why did I ever leave you and your h
T ought to have been so happy ? I might then with you, and
Graja, and good old departed Enphrosyne, have learnt to be
good myself, and have embraced Ch:
"
What, have you i I, Tubala?"
"For a long time, lady, in my sorrows and remor
have seen how happy Christians are, even those who have
as wicked as myself. And because I hinted this to niy hi:
this morning, he has beaten me, and threatened
Hut, thank God, I have been making myself
with Christian doctrines, through the teaching of a friend."
" How long has this bad treatment gone on, Jub.
Orontius, who had heard of it from his uncle.
,ver," she replied, " since soon after marriage, I told him
of an oiler made to me previously, by a dark forer
Enrotas. Oh 1 he was, indeed, a w:
is ni
throat.
'
'Iu an instant, I was unconscious; and remained so, till I
awoke in a cavern, and faintly called for drink. A venerable
old man, with a white beard, put a wooden bowl of water to
my lips. 'Where is Eurotas ?' I asked. 'Is that your companion
?' inquired the old monk. 'Yea,' I answered. 'He is
dead,' was the reply. I know not by what fatality this had
happened; but I bless God with all my heart, for :r.9 and remorseless villany. Connected with him,
having
most racking recollection."
"How was that?" u*ked Orontius, with eager r
"
Why, when he w. he nske
',
for him two narcotic potions ; one for any
should he be taken prisoner. This was to be eert:,iuh
another had to suspend consciousness for a few hours only
should he require it for
" When he came for them, I was just going to explain t
him, that, contrary to up;
the small phial cont
fatally co: 'U, and weaker dose.
and the largo one a
But my husband came ill at
!
t'
and hi a fit of jealousy
Confession of Blue in priviiUi wo
ii. b. iu cii. vi-.i. i U.
thrust a room. I fear son
bptu i
'
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